Amongst The Grapevines is a mixed form memoir of poetry, prose and digital illustrations. This multifaceted collection explores a deep and personal connection to the Syrian conflict, those afflicted by it and the sense of misplaced identity it has caused. Amongst The Grapevines uncovers both the beauty and the challenges associated with being part of an Australian-Syrian diaspora, the struggle to understand and belong in both worlds and the migrant experience.
Details from the Author
When the Syrian conflict began in 2011, it flung us all into the air and when we landed, we landed differently. We landed trying to grasp onto meaning, trying to grasp onto something tangible, trying to hold onto the pieces of the Syria we knew and loved but they no longer fit the same. Our relationship with Syria, with each other, with our second home, with ourselves – were convoluted concepts. We tried to navigate our way through these pieces and learn how to place them together under dire but new circumstances. For me, Amongst The Grapevines, was the frame of support. Initially it wasn’t a hundred pages and it didn’t have a name. It was a scream of desperation that slowly developed into creative words. Over the years it took on many names. Over the years it took on many responsibilities. I shaped it and allowed it to shape me. I poured my truth into it; the love, the pain, the guilt, the heartbreak, the beauty, the mistakes, the retributions, the reparations. This book is my truth as an individual not a nation. This book is as many perspectives as one mind can develop. It is unfiltered and unafraid. It is what I knew and what I felt at some point or all the points throughout the last decade. I’m shaking at the idea that the words of this diaspora child will travel through the grapevines and be amongst you all.
Reviews
This book is beautiful, nuanced and well worth the read.
Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, A Thesaurus for the Way Water Returns
Each passage, exploring a separate yet interwoven theme, builds up until its final lines, which will strike you deeply and will remain in the pit of your stomach.
Ava Balis, Have You Ever Been Mine?
As someone who comes from a family of immigrants, this book resonated with me to the core.
Hinnah Mian, To Build a Home
Minney Richani is a writer and artist born and raised in Meanjin/Brisbane between south side and east side. Minney is a single mother with roots in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine and hopes to hold on to and pass down this heritage through dynamic storytelling. Minney’s first publication was a poem that appeared in her local Coffee News in 2010 and her first winning prize was awarded in a high school writing contest. Today she is a multi-award winning writer and her work has appeared in a number of national and international publications and on various media platforms. Amongst The Grapevines is Minney’s debut memoir, published in November 2023. 
I acknowledge the first inhabitants, traditional custodians and rightful owners of this land, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
minney richani 